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Remember, if you haven't used our clues pages yet, check out the instructions here to learn how they work and how to best utilize them. 

Card 1 Front_edited.jpg

Hint 1

There sure are a lot of all of these... But different numbers of each.

Hint 2

You may not need all of them, but how do you choose which?

Hint 3

Are they perhaps referenced somewhere?

Hint 4

Read the child's note carefully.

Solution

In their note, the child references (in order): Tree, ornament, star, ornament, reindeer, ornament. If you count those items, they give you 3, 1, 14, 1, 4, 1 which translates to CANADA using a standard alphanumeric cipher -- the country you need!

Card 1 Back_edited.jpg

Hint 1

The colors seem important, but why aren't they all filled in?

Hint 2

How can you make sense of a 2 x 3 grid of ornaments?

Hint 3

Maybe the child's father can help!

Solution

The note mentions the blind father. The ornament pile represents a braille grid, with the word 'kitchen' giving the order in which to read the colors. The plaintext is: POUTINE, the food you're looking for.

Card 1 Back_edited.jpg

Hint 1

Did you know every snowflake is unique with different stems & branches?

Hint 2

Each of those symbols above the snowflake corresponds to a letter.

Hint 3

The way each symbol is facing is important.

Hint 4

Be sure to go clockwise.

Solution

Each part of the snowflake corresponds to a letter in the alphabet. Starting at "A," you can start constructing an alphabet by going clockwise with "B" being the upper portion of the snowflake branches. Continue moving inside the snowflake and making more of the alphabet. The symbols above using this alphabet make "GRETCHEN" -- the name of the child.

Card 1 Back_edited.jpg

Hint 1

Wow! These stamps look exactly the same.

Hint 2

They even have the same number of flanges around the edge of the stamp.

Hint 3

There are 26 flanges around the stamp -- the same amount as letters in the alphabet. Though it looks like a few are missing...

Hint 4

The first flange in the top left corner is "A" and continues clockwise.

Solution

The two missing flanges in the stamps are the 15th (O) and the 25th (Y), which gives you your toy "YO-YO".

Card 1 Back_edited.jpg

Hint 1

You may want to solve the rest of this card first.

Hint 2

Hmmm... those numbers look strangely similar to a rather "book"-ish cipher.

Hint 3

It looks like some kind of Arnold/Book Cipher, but what text could it be referring to?

Hint 4

The answer to this puzzle resides in the answers to all the other puzzles on this card.

Solution

The Arnold/Book cipher uses two numbers: the first number is about which answer to look at (1-4) and the second number is about which letter in that answer to look at. (4.6) refers to the sixth letter of the fourth answer on the Intro Card (POUTINE) so the first letter is N. The final answer is NAUGHTY.

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